Pseudacris nigrita

The southern chorus frog, black tree frog, black chorus frog, chorus frog, swamp chorus frog, swamp tree frog, southern chorus frog, striped southern chorus frog, Florida winter frog, or Florida chorus frog (Pseudacris nigrita) is a frog. It lives in the southeastern United States, on the Atlantic coastal plain.  It lives as far north as Virginia and North Carolina and as far south as Florida.

This frog is 19 to 32 mm long from nose to rear end.  It has a narrow head and body.  The skin on its back is light brown or dark brown in color.  It has three rows of dots or spots side to side across its back.  Some frogs have a strope that goes all the way to the nose, but some do not.  There are spots or stripes on all four legs.  The belly is light yellow and sometimes has spots.  The adult male frog has green or orange color on its throat.

The tadpoles are 4.5 mm long when they first hatch from their eggs.  They have a dark stripe on each side of the body.  They can grow to 35 mm long before becoming frogs.  The new frogs are between 8.5 and 10.5 mm long.

There are two subspecies of this frog: Pseudacris nigrita nigrita and Pseudacris nigrita verrucosa. Pseudacris nigrita nigrita has a black stripe on the lip and Pseudacris nigrita verrucosa has a white one.

This frog lives in or near shallow water: ponds, puddles and other bodies of water.

References

Category:Frogs of North America